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This might seem like a strange place to put this, but given how big of a sportsfan Phife Dawg was, it’s fitting.

Thankfully, obituaries aren’t my thing, but wanted to jot a few things down about an underappreciated hip hop legend. Pardon the rambling, not working on a lot of sleep owing to the fact I “got on the (early) flight and I ended up in Boston.”

Phife Dawg, born Malik Isaac Taylor, is gone at 45 and it sucks. A Tribe Called Quest is my favourite musical group ever, Midnight Marauders is my favourite rap album and Low End Theory isn’t far behind (oddly, I probably listen to Beats Rhymes and Life more than either, even though it isn’t nearly as good. It’s the most Phife-heavy album to me, maybe that’s why? Their earlier work is great too and even the Love Movement has its moments).

While Q-Tip was always the better known MC, largely because of his voice and uniqueness, Phife could flat-out rap.
I liken it to Outkast or even the Wu Tang Clan – Andre gets the props and attention because he was a bit out there and skilled, but different, but Big Boi was every bit as good and one of the best to ever do it in his own right. With the Wu, Method Man has always been the biggest star, even if others matched or even exceeded his talent – think Ghostface Killah. Guru has gained respect in death that he maybe never had in life because he worked with the greatest producer ever in DJ Premier. Maybe Phife will get more recognition now as well.

Maybe it’s part of the reason Tribe broke up (haven’t seen the documentary yet, but definitely will soon). Maybe Phife felt like he “didn’t get the props that he damn well deserved” to borrow a line. Tribe worked because the two were both show-stoppers in different ways (plus Ali Shaheed Muhammed’s unreal production). Q-Tip was smooth, lyrical, conscious, Phife was raw but, pardon the pun, on point, energetic, witty, magnetic.

Tribe broke down doors in rap and took the art form to a better place, inspiring countless groups and artists to be great themselves.

For me personally, Phife and Tribe got me hooked on rap music. I had listened to a ton of West Coast stuff and that was what I was into and eventually it would be New York, Philadelphia and Chicago (Wu, Mobb Deep, Nas, Common, The Roots etc.) but I could never go a week without listening to Midnight Marauders once I heard it. I even once sold the CD (after dubbing it onto a tape, of course) thinking the tape would be fine, then bought it back less than a month later because I realized the tape would be obliterated in no time. I think it’s the only record I’ve purchased twice (talking physical copies).

When I was in Ottawa this pre-season, I found Midnight Marauders on wax and bought it for a third time. It’s been my screensaver on my phone ever since.

Will always regret not going to the Up In Smoke Tour in Toronto in 1996 and seeing Tribe, but thanks to the Raptors bringing in Phife as a halftime show a couple of years ago, at least I got to see him live once.

I’ll stand by this, no hip hop group ever released back-to-back albums as good as Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. Both are near flawless. Both are on my all-time rap top-10 list.

You didn’t have to be an early-mid-90s Knicks fan to feel what Phife was saying back then.

His best sports lines or verses:

“I skate on your crew, like Mario Lemieux.”

“With all these trials and tribulations, yo, I’ve been affected
And to top it off, Starks got ejected.”

“Fuck around and have your heart, like Jordan had Starks.
While you playing hokey pokey, there’s no time to be dokey
Cuz I come out to play every night like Charles Oakley.”

(For the old people who remember pagers) “The “S” in Skypage really stands for sex, beeper’s going off like Don Trump gets checks, keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets. At times I miss the pager, so you don’t get vexed.”

“93 means skills are a must, so never lack Sit back and learn, come now watch the birdie Your styles are incomplete, same as Vinny Testaverde Battling, whenever — hot Damn! Give me the microphone boy, one time, bam!”

And the unbeatable one:
“Hip-hop scholar since being knee-high to a duck /The height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck.”

Singular talent in professional team sports is most important in the NBA.
Don’t believe it, look at the list of champions since 1980. How many didn’t employ one of the 15 best players ever? Assuming the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Julius Erving and even Stephen Curry are there with the rest, you’ve got the 2004 Detroit Pistons. That’s the list.
Kyle Lowry isn’t a top 15 player ever, of course, but he’s one of the 10 best currently in the NBA (first in steals, sixth in made three-pointers, fifth in win shares, fourth in value over replacement player, etc.) and the Brooklyn Nets don’t have anyone close to his level. Hence, why the Raptors could wipe out a 16-point third quarter deficit on Tuesday night.
After one of his worst opening two quarters of the year, Lowry was incredible. He had 17 points, six assists and went +21 in the second half, some of it spent beside Cory Joseph. Joseph’s contribution didn’t really show up on the stat-sheet, but he gave the Raptors good minutes as well.
Based on what happened last year, there was valid concern about Lowry tailing off, but he’s gone the other way, getting better since the all-star break.
In the nine games since: 25.7 points, 7.8 assists, .547 from the field, .431 on three-pointers (all way up) and fewer turnovers and fouls per game. He’s been spectacular.GOOD MOVES
This corner was justifiably hard on Dwane Casey and his staff after a poor tactical performance against Houston, so we’ll also point out that Tuesday was filled with excellent calls.
Starting Jason Thompson and Norman Powell didn’t work early on (nothing did, really), but both were strong during the third quarter rally. Powell only had three rebounds, but was in the mix on the glass all night and defended better. Obviously whatever Casey said at the half got through to the team and sitting down a truly awful Jonas Valanciunas (not a stretch to say this was one of the worst efforts of his career) in favour of Bismack Biyombo turned the game around. Biyombo’s energy and effort level sparked the team and gave Lowry, who also has a non-stop motor, a running mate.
Biyombo was actually off the first time he entered the game, but really rallied. That wasn’t the case with Valanciunas, who has shown some troubling signs lately. His defence has regressed noticeably, he appeared stuck in second gear all night and he didn’t even rebound, which is usually the one constant to his game. Expect a lot of Patrick Patterson/DeMarre Carroll small-ball combinations in the playoffs. The question is, if Lowry and Joseph are in the backcourt with DeMAr DeRozan shifting to small forward in that scenario, will the Raptors be big enough? Not against the Bulls or Cavs, most likely, but probably against other squads.
And to head off the questions now: No, we don’t know when Carroll will be back, but if he keeps at this pace, Easter Weekend seems like a good guess.AROUND THE RIM
Seven blocks from Brook Lopez? That shouldn’t happen. Lopez was awesome defending the rim, forcing nine misses on 15 attempts. Toronto went 10-for-14 at the rim against the other Nets. … Thompson’s always been a good mid-range shooter and it appears he’s been working on extending his range. If he can hit threes consistently, he’ll stick around and be quite useful for more years than many anticipated, even if it’s on another team … Toronto is now 10-1 against the Atlantic Division … Toronto set a new franchise record with its 28th straight win when holding opponents under 100 points. Brooklyn had 58 points at the half and 80 after three quarters, so not getting to 100 indicated how much Toronto’s defensive effort changed during the latter stages of the game, though the Nets still shot over 50%. Opponents have shot 45% or higher in a season-worst seven straight.

Sunday’s Raptors loss against Houston definitely was a strange one. In another example of “that’s why they play the games” what looked like an easy Raptors win – tired Rockets coming in after a listless performance in Chicago against a rested group looking to right things defensively a bit – turned into one of the worst losses of the season. Blowing an 18-point advantage at home is brutal and nobody on the Raptors looks good for it. That includes the coaching staff, which had perhaps its worst night of the season.
The weird technical on Dwane Casey really hurt the Raptors and the rotational decisions were way off, to a degree we haven’t seen throughout the year.
James Johnson, who had been playing perhaps his worst basketball of the season over the past couple of weeks, was up for the challenge of checking James Harden and was the best player on the floor in the first quarter. He was much quieter in the second quarter and picked up two fouls, but again heled Harden in check (just four free throws as they matched minutes).
Now Harden did come to life against Johnson in a solid third quarter, but nowhere close to the way he erupted in the fourth (20 points). Johnson had done easily the best job on Harden all night, yet didn’t see a minute in the fourth as Harden won the game basically on his own. It was baffling to see.
The argument probably was more offence was needed with the Rockets blitzing DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry like few teams have all year, but Johnson had already hit two three-pointers and handed out four assists. My counter would be the way Harden was torching you, better to try to put a cork in him even if your offence suffers at the other end.
In the long run, though, this could be a useful loss for a Raptors team that has been a bit of a mirage.
Many issues have been covered up by the seemingly non-stop parade of wins.
Chief amongst them has been a puzzling defensive cliff-dive. Toronto ranked seventh overall defensively at the end of January. Since, the team is better than only four clubs, four truly awful clubs at that (Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets).
This shouldn’t be happening. If it continues, the Raptors could lose to any opponent in the first round. That would result in big changes, starting with surely letting Casey go (next year’s contract is not yet guaranteed, even though he’d finish in the top five if a coach of the year vote happened right now) and possibly moving on from DeRozan, though that is extremely unlikely based on his connection with the fanbase and his ticket-selling ability as the face of the franchise, as well as his popularity amongst potential free agent additions.
Is this too much doom and gloom for a team that would still be .500 even if it lost each of the final 20 games of the season? Perhaps, but this season is all about what happens in late-April and in May. The most effective offence this side of the Bay is nice, but without any defence, the Raptors will not last long and any happy memories generated so far during this stirring campaign will quickly evaporate into the ether.AROUND THE RIM
Besides the overall defensive issues, another source of moderate concern is the recent slippage of the bench. Cory Joseph and Patrick Patterson were as good as they have ever been in February, but the first week of March was rough for both of them. Terrence Ross has been active defensively, but the team really sizzles when he is making shots, and he’s only hit at a 30% clip the past three games on a lot of attempts. Bismack Biyombo also hasn’t been quite as much of a defensive terror. The bright side? Norman Powell and Lucas Nogueira have had some nice minutes when called upon and starter Luis Scola has his best outing since Jan. 3, looking like the Scola of early on, who was a key contributor.

Toronto’s 12th-straight home win wasn’t the prettiest of this run, the record number of free throws saw to that, but it still managed to be one of the most entertaining.
Right down to the wire thanks to the brilliance of Damian Lillard (do Raptors fans still curse Ben Uzoh’s name because he might have cost the team Lillard thanks to his out-of-nowhere triple double late in the 2012 season?), a historic night at the line by DeMar DeRozan (until Kyle Lowry told him to miss the last one intentionally) and Jonas Valanciunas again throttling Portland’s front-line (like he did in Portland).
Lillard’s incredible and this still applies (scroll down).
All in all, another impressive win by the Raptors. Sweeping the Blazers, the NBA’s surprise squad is another feather in the team’s cap. That doesn’t mean there aren’t concerns (namely of the defensive variety), but pulling out these games more often than not is still far preferable to dropping them, which used to be the Raptors way.GOOD SWITCH
Liked the move by Dwane Casey to start Norman Powell at shooting guard and move DeMar DeRozan to small forward. C.J. McCollum would have been a tough defensive matchup for DeRozan, which would have taken away from his offensive output (and as it turned out, it was very important that DeRozan lit it up on the other end). Al-Farouq Aminu is not a dangerous offensive player (though he has become a solid outside shooter), whereas McCollum is a load.
Powell did a nice job, McCollum still got his, but Powell made him work when he was defending him and also chipped in with his first double-digit scoring game, hitting two threes. Powell works tirelessly on his outside shot, knowing it can earn him a spot in the rotation next season if he can become productive out there. Saw him hit 11 straight at a recent practice and he spent the entire all-star break hoisting up three-pointers. While he filled in at small forward earlier in the year, Powell is much better suited to shooting guard, given his size (and he could even play a McCollum-like combo guard role down the line if he continues to hone his ball-handling and passing instincts).
The more he plays, the more respect he’ll get from officials (McCollum was given some gifts).AROUND THE RIM
Valanciunas hit double-figures in scoring for the 13th straight game. He added 10 rebounds (four offensive) and only missed one shot. Broken record here, but he needs to get the ball more often. Thanks largely to Valanciunas, Toronto shot 51.5% at the rim against a Portland team that doesn’t defend inside well. On the other hand, Toronto’s rim defence was horrific. The Blazers shredded Toronto’s interior for 80% shooting (20-of-25) … Not a huge fan of the +/- stat in basketball, but for the second game in a row after months of it not happening, Luis Scola had a good +/-, Patrick Patterson a poor one (this even though Scola didn’t make a bucket). Still, that stat doesn’t tell the whole story as Patterson still made a few important plays. Once again, he should be starting … Jason Thompson made a quick debut, playing just over a minute.

Thanks to U of T’s Sports and Business Association for the invite to their conference yesterday. Bryan Colangelo, Michele O’Keefe and Jack Armstrong did a great job at the keynote I was able to attend. Some details here and more coming tomorrow.

There was some interesting timing to Lucas Nogueira’s return to Raptors relevance against Utah on Wednesday.
Bebe, of course, unexpectedly became a key factor in Toronto’s comeback win, supplying energy, enthusiasm and strong boarwork in his 4:30 of action. When Nogueira entered the game, the Raptors trailed by six points. By the time he exited (at half-time), he had hauled in four rebounds, completed a big alley-oop off a pass from Kyle Lowry (they still have great chemistry, regardless of how long it has been since they were on the court together) and played some good defence and the game had swung 11 points, with the Raptors now up by five.
Nogueira said he had been told earlier Wednesday that he would likely get some run and wanted to make sure he made an impact. He also praised his time in the D-League (he was to play in a game for Raptors 905 on Thursday as well) for helping him stay in game shape for whenever he is called upon.
Ujiri has made it clear in the past that he values Nogueira and is intrigued with his skill-set. He likely wouldn’t have done the Lou Williams deal with Atlanta without Nogueira being included and has always backed the centre when given reasons to slag him in private.
“Hopefully I think here and there coach will find time for Bebe to continue to develop, but he’s someone we see as a big part of our program going forward and a really, really big part,” Ujiri said.
“You don’t find bigs like that, that skilled and he’s shown us a little bit, has to do it more consistently, but we all know bigs take time so hopefully we can find a little bit more time (to play him).”
All of this leads to next season, where it’s far more likely than not that Nogueira will need to become the backup centre. Bismack Biyombo has a player option that nobody in their right mind would pick up. With the cap set to rocket up, Biyombo should be able to make four or five times what he is owed for next year – in just one season. Toronto doesn’t have his Bird Rights and doesn’t have the cap room to bring him back unless other moves happen (like DeRozan signing somewhere else or Terrence Ross or Jonas Valanciunas being traded into cap space for cheap prospects or draft picks in return. Again, each of those things are unlikely, so it’s hard to see Biyombo back, despite his close relationship with Ujiri).NO ISSUE
Dwane Casey has been making it clear – Kyle Lowry is not injured and his night off in Detroit was merely a team decision to get him some rest. Then Lowry made Casey’s words redundant with another spectacular effort, proving he is indeed in top form.
Casey also said he’d like to get his youngsters in more down the stretch, to help Lowry and DeMar DeRozan stay fresher, but it’s not easy when you are gunning for top spot in the conference and as high a seed as possible in the East.
“We’re in this business to win. Are you best playing one of your best players a couple more minutes? (the answer is yes). (But) if there’s minutes for us to steal (here and there, they will).”AROUND THE RIM
Valanciunas has hit double figures in scoring in 12 straight games, a career high. The team is 22-7 when he does that. Toronto is now 32-3 when holding opponents under 100 points, including 26 straight wins … The regression of James Johnson is troubling. He is no longer defending at a high level. Even when he’d make some mistakes, he’d still make up for a lot of them with good plays. He just doesn’t look like the same guy. With DeRozan struggling to defend and the Luis Scola-Valanciunas combo still a mess, no wonder Toronto has fallen defensively (even Wednesday, while the final Utah numbers came down, early on it was a Gordon Hayward offensive clinic) … The game should have been over far earlier and probably would have been had Patrick Patterson not had a horrific shooting night (1-for-9, including a startling 0-for-6 on uncontested looks). The Raptors only managed 12 assists, largely because shots weren’t falling (6-for-22 on three-pointers). Amazingly, Patterson was again a net positive despite his worst shooting night of the year, thanks largely to his work on the boards (seven rebounds) and good defending (Utah shot just 2-for-5 at the rim against Patterson vs. 6-for-8 vs. Valanciunas). Despite the woeful three-point shooting, the Raptors still shot 50% from the field, meaning they got it done against the usually scary frontcourt of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors. DeRozan, in particular, had some absurd finishes inside and Lowry was 10-for-12 on two-point attempts, including 6-for-8 at the rim. As Jazz coach Quinn Snyder predicted, either the Raptors hit tough shots, or got Utah big men into foul trouble.

In resting Kyle Lowry, the Raptors took a chance Sunday in Detroit. The hope was having hitched a ride on Lowry’s back and letting him carry the load against Cleveland, the rest of the gang could hold the fort against the Pistons, with Lowry getting a much-needed rest.
It was the right idea – the team desperately needs to find ways to get Lowry some time off, since all that matters is what happens in the playoffs and he needs to be as fresh as possible, however, his teammates didn’t step up.
DeMar DeRozan had a nice start, then got completely shut down by Marcus Morris (generally, DeRozan has his way with other shooting guards, but when a big, athletic forward like Otto Porter or Marcus Morris can stay with him, he tends to have a ton of problems). After several excellent outings, Cory Joseph wasn’t great in his first start as a Raptor, though Delon Wright impressed at times. The Lowry break was also beneficial because it allowed Wright to get a nice run. They might need him if foul trouble for Lowry or Joseph arise down the line.
Given how little experience he has, Wright impressed. Credit to Jesse Mermuys and his staff in Mississauga. Raptors fans scream about passing on Bobby Portis, but have always maintained Wright will be a solid pro as well.
Meanwhile, it’s smart for the Raptors to get Lowry some breaks now, while there are still many games left to play, rather than scratching him for two or three games just before the playoffs, which could lead to rust and timing issues.
Perhaps the weirdest takeaway for me from this game was Jonas Valanciunas getting absolutely throttled by Andre Drummond. In the past, Valanciunas has usually totally dominated the all-star at both ends of the floor. Not this time. Not even close. Pistons players have noted Drummond’s improvement the past few weeks, particularly defensively and they might be on to something.
Valanciunas has improved as a rim defender, but he was atrocious in this one (Detroit went 5-for-5 at the rim against him and a silly-good 20-for-23 overall).
Toronto’s defence was far too soft inside and Detroit’s was excellent (Toronto shot just 13-for-22 at the rim)BAD MATCHUP?
Reading too much into one game is a mistake, but this one created some doubt in my mind. Before it, felt a Raptors-Pistons playoff matchup would result in a five game Raptors win. Now, after seeing Drummond turn the tables on Valanciunas and Morris solve DeRozan, far less certain. Still think Lowry (and a healthy DeMarre Carroll) would make the difference, but this scenario might not be the walk it felt like it would be earlier.
Still think it would be better than facing Chicago or Indiana though. Actually, Charlotte (despite Toronto’s historic struggles against the Hornets) is the only potential matchup of the six likeliest opponents that I think is more favourable for the Raptors than the Pistons.
Perhaps the point is any series in the East is going to be tough this year.AROUND THE RIM
The only starter that had a good game? James Johnson, who seems to love playing in Detroit. He was solid, although like all of the Raptors, he was far better offensively than defensively … Terrence Ross was probably the best Raptor and was particularly good with a hand up on him, hitting half of his contested attempts, per NBA.com (DeRozan only hit 5-of-14) … Toronto only had five turnovers and hit 10 three-pointers on 21 attempts. Usually, that combination is going to win a team a game, only the defence was hideous (Detroit shot 57.7%).
All of the wins have covered up a few warts, but Toronto has some things to work on. Most troubling? The team’s defensive efficiency over the past 10 games ranks 23rd in the NBA (the offence tops the Association, hence all of the wins despite the shoddy defending).
As we’ve seen, offence alone isn’t going to get it done in the playoffs when the whistle changes and scoring becomes a lot more difficult. The defensive issues need to be corrected, or else getting to the second round and beyond becomes unlikely.

Are you not entertained? If you weren’t by Friday’s instant classic against Cleveland, you never will be.
It was definitely one of the 21 best Raptors games in the 21 year history of the franchise and probably one of the five best individual performances, though Vince Carter had many ridiculous nights.
If you take away Carter, only Terrence Ross, Charlie Villanueva and Chris Bosh have scored more in a game. Ross made 10 threes against a very good Clippers squad, so that one was comparable, but the Raptors lost the game. Also, I think this all-around Lowry effort was even better and he was the reason for the triumph. The Villanueva game wasn’t nearly as good and the Bosh 44-point effort was built mostly at the line in a pretty unimportant contest. The bottom line is Carter is probably the only one that has had a better all-around game against a good opponent in Toronto history.
In “winning time” Lowry was completely unstoppable. He had 16 points, hitting all of his shots, added three assists, a steal and not a single turnover.
This, despite playing the entire second half. No break at all, aside from timeouts. Remarkable.
Dwane Casey has said he is going to have to find a way to get Lowry some rest down the stretch to keep him fresh for the playoffs and after Friday’s marathon, that will be even more necessary. Skinny now or not, Lowry can’t climb a mountain with the entire team strapped in a pack on his back too often.JV THE JOKER
After every win now, we wonder what hijinks will take place in the joyous Raptors locker room. They stay professional, but they are a very happy bunch and the room has a couple of pranksters in it.
Most notably, the biggest guy on the team, Jonas Valanciunas. His fondness for playing around with boom mics is well-documented, but after this game, with DeMar DeRozan struggled to talk through his media session because of a bad case of the flu (credit for DeRozan for playing through it, even though he had a rough evening until a couple of big plays in the fourth quarter), Valanciunas donned a white medical mask and tried to hand more out to DeRozan and the media.
A flustered DeRozan told Valanciunas to get lost, then ended the session, smiling.
DeRozan had the flu the other night when he scored a game-best 31 points and said he has been feeling terrible, but there was no way he was going to miss this game.LOVE HURTS
A couple of good quotes from Kevin Love post-game.
On if it was a big game?
“Yeah, anybody that says it wasn’t was lying to you. It was a hostile environment, away from home, they’re a very good team and had won nine in a row at home before tonight. We knew they’d be hard to beat.”
On Lowry:
“He’s a crafty player. He changes speed quite a bit, puts a lot of pressure on the bigs and never stops moving. He’s a tough player. Tonight, especially when he got the crowd into it, really seemed to spark the entire team.”
Love didn’t look like a happy camper, though he was in a better mood than LeBron James, who ripped up the stat-sheet and gave short, terse answers, not hiding his frustration with his team’s mental lapses.IT’S PAT
Patrick Patterson’s numbers don’t stand out at all, but he has been a key to Toronto’s success this season. He has hit timely shots and gotten big offensive rebounds, but it’s more what he has done defensively. Whether it’s guarding traditional power forwards well, or doing a good job on bigger small forwards like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, Patterson has been excellent defensively for some time now. Having three well-above-average on the floor for large stretches of games (Patterson, Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo), along with the relentless Lowry who can lock things down as well, has been the major reason why Toronto has won 18-of-21 games.
Patterson isn’t one to toot his own horn though. Instead, he sung Lowry’s praises.
“If you don’t pay attention to Kyle Lowry after tonight … hopefully he gets that recognition that we all feel he deserves,” Patterson said.
“He leads us game in and game out, whether it’s offensively, defensively, hitting clutch shots end of games, just making spectacular plays, whether it’s an assist or something, he always seems to do something that causes us to win down the stretch and he always puts us on his back.”
I asked Patterson if he’s glad he doesn’t have a say in picking the All-NBA teams, because it would be very difficult to choose the six guards (Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul are locks, Lowry should be too, but who knows).
“If I had a vote, it’s Kyle for everything. MVP, first-team, all-defensive, whatever it is, Kyle gets every single vote,” Patterson said.

Kyle Lowry said something really interesting after Toronto’s win over Minnesota on Wednesday night.
He said he didn’t know Cory Joseph was this good when the team signed him and that Joseph had already – or was well on the way – to “outgrowing” the $7 million a season plus deal the Raptors handed the former Spurs third-stringer in the off-season. Many believed that contract was a mistake and that the Toronto media was showing some homerism in saying it was actually a smart deal.
Aside from one dip in play that in large part was a result of a viral infection, Joseph has been one of the best new additions in the entire NBA. He has run one of the league’s best bench units, become a key part of crunch time for the Raptors, playing alongside Lowry and has also made Lowry better by reducing his offensive and defensive responsibilities.
A newfound three-point shot – “Repetition is key, I definitely feel confident right now,” Joseph said – has only added to what he brings.
Toronto’s bench is +178 for the season, comfortably in second place in the NBA behind San Antonio’s ridiculous reserves, well ahead of third-place Atlanta (+91). Only three benches average fewer turnovers, only San Antonio and Golden State’s have a higher offensive efficiency and only three have been better defensively.
Joseph has been a fulcrum of that success, along with Patrick Patterson and to a lesser extent, Terrence Ross and Bismack Biyombo.
Casey recent called Joseph a godsend and you can’t really argue with that.
Not sure they’ll have the eye-popping numbers to win it and they might split the vote, but Joseph and Patrick Patterson deserve heavy sixth man of the year consideration.IN THE BOOKS
DeMar DeRozan is now the all-time wins leader in Raptors history and Casey is impressed.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment. It’s something that’s not going to go away anytime soon,” Casey said.
“He means a lot to this organization, where it’s come from and where it’s going. He’s a big cog of that. I go back to five years ago when I first got here, we were (ranked) 30th in everything. Where we are in the league, the respect we’ve gotten and DeMar is a main reason for that.”
That’s true, his improvement has been truly impressive and the ascension of Lowry into a franchise player and great backcourt complement to DeRozan has sparked this winning Raptors era.
As always, though, DeRozan will ultimately be defined by how far one of his teams can go in the playoffs.MINNY WILL BE SCARY
Even if another high-lottery pick wasn’t on the way, the future is mighty intriguing in Minnesota.
Everyone in Canada knows about Andrew Wiggins, who has a couple more levels he still can get to and now Karl-Anthony Towns is showing he has top five player in the entire NBA potential.
“He’s so versatile, I don’t know if you can force him to do anything. He’s inside, he’s outside. He’s doing a little bit of everything with the basketball,” Casey said of Towns.
“I said in New York, I thought Porzingis was gonna be like Dirk (Nowitzki), and this kid can be like (Kevin) Garnett. Probably more skilled out on the perimeter than Garnett. He’s still a rookie, but he’s advanced mentally, he’s matured as a young man. He’s not your typical rookie so to speak in years wise. Being around Garnett, some of that fire and intensity is rubbing off on him.”
After the game, Casey said Minnesota is going to be in the mix in the West in a couple of years.
The team already gets to the rim at will thanks to its athleticism and length advantages over almost any other team. Add that high pick and more defenders and shooting and look out.CONCERNING?
It’s clear the Jonas Valanciunas/Luis Scola combination isn’t working, especially defensively. Both got yanked by Casey – along with James Johnson – because they couldn’t stop the Wolves. Scola never came back and Casey admitted it was a bad matchup for him. He also said earlier in the day that he won’t flip-flop Scola and Patrick Patterson, no matter what the numbers say. The belief is Scola, the team’s oldest player, won’t be good off the bench, he is better when he is warm and thrown in right away and his veteran smarts and presence is important. Plus, the bench has been so dominant he doesn’t want to mess with a good thing (not to mention, anybody who watched the pre-season will remember how much Patterson struggled when the starting role was his to lose).
I’d give Patterson another shot, but it doesn’t seem like that will happen unless the team goes on a long losing streak.
Meanwhile, Valanciunas has really regressed defensively to the point that it is troubling. Can you have him on the floor in the playoffs against a pace-and-space team?
In the old NBA, Valanciunas could be a starting centre on a title contender. Not sure if that’s the case anymore with the league going smaller and scoring threats spread at all five positions, with centres needing to cover far more ground than in the past. Not to mention his offensive gifts get largely wasted with few of his teammates willing to give him the ball.
Is there a long-term fit in Toronto if DeMar DeRozan re-signs? A mighty important question and the answer might be it doesn’t matter, he’s better than the alternative (when Bismack Biyombo walks and gets his salary multiplied by five times or so, Lucas Nogueira will be the alternative, along with anybody else the team can sign).AROUND THE RIM
This is the second time Toronto has won nine straight at home – the first was in 1999, right when Vinsanity first ramped up (the end of Vince Carter’s rookie season as the club fell short of a first playoff berth, but served notice it would be a force in 1999-2000). The miracle Raptors team that marched to the playoffs on the strength of a record win streak without an injured Carter won eight straight at home … The Ross ejection was quite strange. Patterson said he didn’t recognize the fiery guy he saw, DeRozan said he must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and Casey said he told Ross he can’t lose control like that (even if the referees were bungling the calls) … Casey moved to .500 in his coaching career, including .523 in his five years with the Raptors.

After notching just 12 assists against Memphis, Toronto’s offence was much better against New York on Monday night – no big surprise considering the opposition – and managed 26 assists. Kyle Lowry’s now had at least seven in six straight games and is averaging more than six per game, 13th in the NBA. He’s also sixth in made three-pointers, 15th in scoring and is a fraction away from being tied for second in steals.
Lowry’s game cratered in the second half last season and there were fears that might happen again, but Lowry is shutting down any of that talk. After a bit of slippage in December, he has roared back, shooting 45.1% last month, 47.1% this month, including about 40% from three in January and February. He’s also raised his assists while lowering his turnovers, which isn’t easy to do.
Participating in the all-star festivities doesn’t seem to have impacted him either, as he has shot 50% from the floor in the three games since.
If this keeps up in March and April, Lowry deserves to join Vince Carter and Chris Bosh as the only Raptors to make an All-NBA team.SOLID JOB
James Johnson did exactly what was asked of him and what the Raptors signed him for. He bodied up Carmelo Anthony, getting physical with one of the NBA’s most gifted scorers, making him fight to get to his favoured spots. At some point, after all of the banging, Anthony simply decided that he didn’t want to work anymore for easier looks. Johnson also added 12 points and was a game-best +25. Lowry will get the props, but Johnson was Toronto’s unsung hero on this night.
When he is in control, taking what is given to him and not trying to force plays, Johnson can be extremely useful.
When Johnson subbed out and DeMar DeRozan had to shift to small forward, the defensive results weren’t pretty. Anthony’s eyes lit up. DeRozan is about an average defender against shooting guards, but when he needs to check small forwards, especially the bigger ones like Anthony and Joe Johnson, it is nearly always a disaster.
That’s where they really miss having both DeMarre Carroll and Johnson as options.EASING HIS WAY IN
Jonas Valanciunas had a tough start to the game, finding Robin Lopez’s underrated defensive abilities tough to fight through, but he eventually got it going and ended up with 20 points.
However, his defence against Lopez left a lot to be desired, which meant a large dose of Bismack Biyombo.AROUND THE RIM
With Cleveland’s loss, Toronto moved within three games of top spot in the East … A day after holding Memphis to 3-for-20 three-point shooting, the Raptors held New York to 6-for-20 (30%) from three. For a team that has really struggled to guard out there, this is progress … Luis Scola was a +10, a good sign, considering his run of negative games. He still struggled, but at least better things were happening when he was on the court compared to other recent contests … Terrence Ross keeps falling for up-fakes. First it was Vince Carter making him look bad, then Arron Afflalo on Monday. Ross needs to stay down … Cory Joseph continues to excel. He has played well for weeks now and hit two three-pointers for the second game in a row, the first time that’s happened in his career (he had four career two three-pointer games before this back-to-back).